Garment supporting band



Mare]! 1944- J. F. HARGREAVES 7 I GARMENT SUPPORTING BAND Filed June 12, 1940 INVENIOR. J06 FHa/yreamsv M. g L

M ATTORNEY? Patented Mar. 7, 1944 GARMENT SUPPORTING BAND John F. Hargreaves, Baltimore, Md., assignor to The Faultless Manufacturing Company, Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Maryland Application June 12, 1940, Serial No. 340,032 1 Claim. (c1. 2-237) The present invention relates to garments and more especially to a band such as a waistband or wristband.

The present invention is an improvement upon the construction disclosed in Hardie Patent No. 2,132,616, patented August 11, 1938.

Fig. 1 is a cross-section on line I-lof Fig.2;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a band in accordance with the present invention showing portions of the band broken away in Order to more clearly illustrate the construction.

The band illustrated in Hardie Patent No. 2,132,616 was satisfactory for many purposes, but it had a tendency to bow at the edges, especially when the band was used as a waistband on garments such as pajama pants or the like.

This undesirable action presented a problem of some diificulty to solve until the present construction was invented wherein the inturned hems of the sheathfabric were extended sufliciently to include a plurality of stitches through each hem. This construction completely solved the difficulty and resulted in a band which was substantially flat on the outside when fabricated and remained fiat during use. Preferably in this new construction, the inturned hems of the sheath fabric comes close together so as to 'nearly meet without overlapping. This results in a band of even thickness.

The preferred construction comprises a strip I of stretchable fabric of any desirable construction, preferably knit material. The edges of this strip l comprise wide inturned hems 2 and I which face against the narrow inturned hem 5 of the garment fabric 6. The garment fabric 6 may be, and preferably is, a non-stretchable fabric, although the invention is equall useful when stretchable fabric is used for the entire construction where fabric is an element of the device. The hems 2 and 4 of the facing. or sheath strip I enclose a strip 1 of sheet rubber. Stitches 8 and 9 pass through the facing I, the rubber strip 1, the hem 2, and the garment material 6. Stitches 8 also pass through the narrow hem 5 on the garment material 6. Stitches l0 and H pass through the facing I, the rubber strip 1, the.

wide hem 4 and the garment material 6. It will be observed that the stitches 8 and 9 both pass through the wide hem 2 and the stitches l0 and H both pass through the wide hem 4. This construction produces even thickness of ma-- terial and a balance of forces on each side of the strip of rubber 1 so. consequently there is no tendency of the band to bow or curve. Preferment is shirredat I! while the band is being made in order that small gathers of material overlie the zone of the band and comprise an area which may be elongated as the, garment band is stretched.

Preferably, the device is manufactured by a single operation of sewing in that the facing I so that the parts are assembled and passed througha four needle or more sewing machine to sew the parts securely together while the rubber strip I is under tension. The stitching is of a type known as straight stitching or non-elastic stitching. There is no danger of the stitches breaking when the band is stretched as it normally is when in position on the wearer since the garment band is made while the rubber is under tension. Elastic stitching may be used when desired, and is preferable where the garment is made from elastic textile fabric such as knitted fabric.

When the assembled band is sewed, the soft elastic knitted material I is formed into cushions I2, I 4, and I5 between the rows of stitches 8, 8, III, and H. These cushions l2, l4, and I5 are toward, or in contact with, the skin of the wearer and contribute to the very soft and comfortable action of the garment band.

While the present invention is not limited to specific dimensions, garment belts for pajama pants have been satisfactorily made wherein the rubber strip was one and one-fourth inches wide, and twelve gauge in thickness. This rubber strip was sewed by straight stitches while'being drawn under tension from substantially six and twothirds inches to ten inches. The rows of stitches were substantially three eighths of one inch apart, making one and one-eighth inches between the outside. rows, the knit sheath strip I being substantially two and three-sixteenths of an inch wide so that the edges nearly meet when the hems 2 and 4 are inturned. The hems are greater than one-quarter of the width of the band and slightly less than one-half the width of the band. The garment fabric was laid on the top of the rubber sheath and was in some cases sewed by the first row of stitches and in others by the first and second rows of stitches. Immediately after the sewing operations were combetween corrugated wheels or rollers which pressed into the garment fabric even shirrings that gave the finished product a beautiful even v appearance.

The sheet of sheet rubber used in this band is thin and the facing material is also a thin piece of soft knitted cloth. The band is not bulky and without overlapping, a garment formed of texrow of stitches also passing through the hem the garment material.

tile material to which said band is permanently attached by stitching, the upper edge of the garment material having a hem folded inwardly adjacent the upper hem on said stretchable textile fabric and being in contact with the said hem of the sheath, a plurality of rows of stitches extending longitudinally of said sheath and passing through said flat strip of rubber and said sheath and forming longitudinally extending cushions in the stretchable textile fabric on the inner side of said sheath and between the rows of stitches while said strip of rubber remains substantially flat; said strip of rubber, said garment material and each hem on said sheath being sewn through by a plurality of said rows 01 stitches whereby each of said rows of stitches passes through four layers of material, and one on JOHN F. HARJGREAVES. 

